


Yawn

by Rowlett



Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Gen, happens around episode 88, no spoilers for the manga, or chapters 134-135
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-09 04:11:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20492183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rowlett/pseuds/Rowlett
Summary: Noelle hoped he knew that she was actually jealous of them growing up together in that warm environment.





	Yawn

The night before the attack at the hideout of the Eye of Midnight Sun was surprisingly quiet. Most part of the Kingdom was sleeping at that time, and even with the threat of a terrorist attack, most part of its citizens were enjoying their night of sleep. Nothing would shake their trust on their Royal Knights.

However, with the actual group, the idea was quite the opposite. The ones who had passed the test were tense, but the feeling of uneasiness was nothing if they could compare with their youngest members.

“Aaaaah! I can’t sleep at all!” Came the loud voice from one of the Knights. They were currently in the resting area of the garden of their headquarters, but the place gave nothing to make the young man feel more relaxed.

“Yelling won’t make you sleep any faster, Asta.” The other voice, unlike the one of his friend, was collected, but no less anxious.

Asta got up from his seat on the garden and pointed a finger at his childhood friend, who was still sitting on a nearby bench with a stoic face. “Like you’re any better, Yuno! You’re only here because you can’t sleep either, right?”

Yuno sighed. “It doesn’t mean I’m going to scream my insomnia away.”

Asta pouted at the small lecture and tried to sit down again. The attack on the terrorist organization was tomorrow (or rather, today) and they were supposed to get some rest, but here they were, looking at the stars and trying to find an ounce of sleep without success.

“I wonder how everyone else is doing,” questioned Asta, still looking at the sky.

Yuno only shrugged. “Probably sleeping. I’m sure they have faith in you and the others.”

“Oh, you think so?!” Compliments were something that wasn’t new for Asta ever since he joined the Black Bulls, but he still couldn’t get used to it. “And you? How do you think everyone else is doing at Golden Dawn?”

The black haired man stopped looking at the stars and got a contemplative face. It wasn’t stoic per se, but it looked like the face of someone who was just asked which color is their favorite. In the end, Yuno shrugged again. “Beats me. I know Mimosa and Klaus are here, so I’m not worried.”

“Well, yeah,” Asta waved his hand for a moment. “But what about everyone else?”

There wasn't any answer for that, and for a moment it looked like Yuno was about to sleep, but for the wrong reasons.

Asta raised an eyebrow at that. “Geez, you’re still a loner! Try to make more friends, Yuno!”

“Whatever,” said the other man.

Asta couldn’t believe that guy. Or rather, he could. Yuno was never the most social person he ever knew, but he managed to be friends with Klaus and Mimosa, right? Certainly the other members of Golden Dawn were not  _ that bad _ , right?

“Ah, Asta! Yuno! Good timing!”

The voice that came was from Mimosa, almost as if she was summoned by their chat. She seemed worried about something, if the sweat on her face said anything.

“Yo, Mimosa!” Asta waved his hand again, with more energy this time. “What’s up, why are you in such a rush?!”

“It’s... it’s Noelle,” she took a pause to breath. “I can’t find her anywhere. I was going to give her a book she let me borrow this morning but she wasn’t in her room.”

With that, Asta got worried. “You sure? She could be hungry, maybe she’s in the kitchen…”

Mimosa shook her head. “I’m afraid that’s not the case. I’ve verified her most likely places before coming here. I wonder if it’s because of…”

“Because of…?” Asta asked.

“Nevermind,” Mimosa looked up at Yuno. “Have you seen her somewhere, Yuno?”

“....No, I haven’t,” he said, thinking about the possibilities. Suddenly, his face got brighter, as if he remembered something. “Did you look around the city?”

“The city?” Mimosa asked. “No, but why would she--”

“It’s nothing big for a wizard of her calibre,” Yuno said immediately. “And I think I saw someone with the Royal Knights uniform leaving the castle earlier.”

“Leaving the castle….” Asta repeated. “Whoa, is she alright?!”

“No use worrying about that now, we need to search for her!” Mimosa proclaimed. “Yuno, where did you see her last time?”

“Like I said,” he pointed to the castle gates. “She was leaving the palace. Somehow managed to get past the guards, too.”

They would soon learn that said guards were sleeping while on their jobs. Mimosa made sure to memorize their faces so she could give this report to Captain Mereoleona - no amount of pity that she was feeling for their earlier demise at the hands of the brave lioness would be enough to excuse the lack of discipline in such an important mission.

The easy part was leaving the castle, but they soon remembered they had no idea of where Noelle could possible be. After a quick search around the area, they reached the conclusion that it would be better to go back to the castle and just wait for the girl.

“Noelle, where are you… “ said Asta looking down at the street while crossing his arms. “And on such an important mission too!”

Asta was resigned to spend the night looking for her. He wouldn’t leave his friend alone not now, or ever.

Apparently his friends took notice of his determination, because as soon as he lifted his head, he could hear Yuno’s trademark sigh.

“Mimosa, you can go back to the castle,” he said. “I’ll keep searching for her, with Asta.”

“Wha-” Asta wanted to ask why he was doing that, but Mimosa spoke before him.

“Are you sure, Yuno?” After a moment of reflection, she decided to go back to the castle and wait for her there. “Stay near the entrance in case I find her there, OK? Good luck.”

With that last exchange, Mimosa ran back to the castle. At her slowly disappearing figure, Asta asked his friend. “Hey Yuno, you don’t need to do it. The mission starts tomo- I guess it’s today. You need to rest!”

“The same goes for you,” he said, nonchalantly. “You’ll be a bother if you keep nodding off in the middle of the mission, idiot.”

Asta grinned. He figured out this exchange of insults was Yuno’s way of telling him that he was worried. They started their search again, not before Asta giving a friendly slap on his friend’s back (The reaction made Asta remember how Yuno was, back when they were children).

It wasn’t long after that Yuno felt the use of mana near a fountain, in the middle of a plaza. At that time, it could be either the royal guards or Asta’s friend. 

Thankfully for both of them, the second option was the correct one.

“Heeeey, Noelle!” Yelled Asta. “Heey- hmmmph?!”

Noelle looked at the pair calling her, and how Yuno had his hand on Asta’s mouth, most likely to avoid people yelling at them for, well, yelling in the middle of the night.

“A-A-Asta?!” She got up from the fountain seat, surprised. “A-and the other guy too…”

With a lower voice, Asta ran towards her and waved. “Yo! What are you doing here in the middle of the night, Noelle?”

Yuno was right behind him, and gave a small bow when he faced Noelle, whom did the same. Asta thought that maybe they reached a compromise after their fight together? At least he hoped so.

“I…” she hesitated and looked at the floor. She soon was sitting again on the fountain’s bench, looking too sad for Asta to feel relieved. “I couldn’t sleep, that’s all.”

Sitting down near her and patting her head, he asked. “What’s wrong? Are you anxious too?”

He would never understand her embarrassment with headpats. That’s what friends did with each other, right? Once he wasn’t doing that anymore, she answered. “Brother Nozel is in the same room as me.”

There was a silence after that. Asta knew her relationship with her brothers was not the best, to say the least. So it was understandable she would feel uncomfortable while sharing her room with one of them.

“Can you trade?” Asta asked.

“I’m not sure,” Noelle looked strong on the outside, but her voice sounded so miserable at that moment… “I was searching for Captain Mereoleona to ask that, but I couldn’t find her so I just... came here.”

Asta looked at Yuno, with hopes that he could have an answer for that problem. His friend just had the same frustrated face as him.

It wasn’t a secret, not anymore, that Noelle had problems with her older siblings. After the matriarch died, the family was ripped apart by personal pride and the biggest proof was the condescending way that Solid treated his younger sister in the tournament. You know it was bad when even Wizard King Julius was disappointed in the young man.

A moment passed, and then Yuno asked. “Can you share your room with someone else?”

Both Asta and Noelle looked at him, surprised. She tried to play it cool and not give him an ego boost, though. “M-maybe? It’s for only one night so I think it’s alright…”

“Great!” Exclaimed Asta. “Maybe we can ask Mimosa for it!”

Yuno stared at both of them and said, deadpan, “She is sharing her room with her brother.”

A pause.

“Yeah, no,” said Noelle. “I would rather sleep in the kitchen.”

Asta looked at Yuno, and both nodded. “Then you can share the room with us, Noelle.”

Asta’s offer was said in probably the most innocent way, with equally pure intentions as well, and yet it got an awkward response from the royal.

“W-What!” She yelled. Probably louder than Asta at first. “What the hell are you talking about, Stupidasta! Boys and girls can’t just… just s-sh…!”

“Recca and Aruru shared their bed with everyone else at Hage,” said a deadpan Yuno.

“I can’t believe this,” she said, still looking horrified. “Even you?! Do you peasants not know the meaning of shame…!”

“Shame?” Asta asked. “Oh, you mean the bed? I can give mine if you want! We have a hammock, right Yuno?”

His friend nodded.

“So you two are sharing rooms… then I guess I wouldn’t be a-alone w-w-wi….”

“With Nozel? Don’t worry Noelle!” Asta was finally cheerful at that night, after his bout of insomnia and worry over his friend. “Let’s go back so the three of us can have some rest!”

-*-

Walking back to a castle in the middle of the night was not how she was planning her day to end. Honestly, she wasn’t even thinking about the possibility of people coming to search for her. She needed to thank Mimosa later and, well, Asta too. 

She should have been used to his kindness by now.

His friend, however, was a surprise. She figured he was probably forced to search for her, but her thoughts became confused when she heard he was the one who suggested the search for her outside of the castle. Not to mention, sharing rooms was his idea. 

“Guess he is more caring than I thought…” she said out loud.

“Thank you, I guess,” came the deadpan answer.

Noelle almost yelled in surprise, only to stop when she remembered it was still midnight and they would be in hot waters if anyone found them out this late.

“Don’t surprise me like that!” She said in a low tone.

“Chill. You were talking about me out loud,” he said. Then an amused grin appeared on his face and Noelle already disliked the direction the conversation was going. “I guess Asta really rubbed off on you?”

“Rubbing off on - What’s your problem?!”

“Hey guys!” Came the voice of the person in question. “Are you OK? Why are you walking so far behind?!”

“Nothing!!” Yelled Noelle, with an annoyed Yuno covering his ears nearby. “We are just… exchanging information for the mission! You can go ahead!”

Asta seemed confused for a second, but he soon kept walking ahead of his other two friends. Noelle took the opportunity to give her thoughts to the taller man.

“So, I guess I have to thank you,” she said, not making eye contact with Yuno. She was thankful for that little fairy of his not being around at that time. “For searching for me too, and for the room. But don’t get a big head because of that! I’m royalty, so you should be grateful you--!”

“I just got annoyed,” said Yuno, without looking at her either.

Huh? “What do you mean?” She asked.

Yuno looked at Asta, who was walking far ahead from them.

“We grew up together with the other children of the church,” he said, and Noelle figured out he was talking about Asta. “Everyone there was like family.”

“Yes, we heard about it from him,” she pointed to the boy ahead of them.

“Asta was always really loud,” he was exasperated, but Noelle noticed the affection in his tone. “Loud, stubborn, agitated, and no luck at all with women.”

_ What was that last comment even supposed to be? _

Yuno ignored Noelle’s frustrated face and continued. “The other kids kept making fun of him, but he never gave up. Always saying he would be the Wizard King and whatnot.”

“So,” she interrupted for a bit. “This is something from his childhood, huh?”

He nodded. “He was always protecting his young siblings, me included. That’s why that situation annoyed me,”

Noelle tried to take a look at his face. He was stoic as always, and someone that didn’t know him better would give that man a feeling of not caring at all. Honestly, it was still hard for her to believe he ever had a childhood personality like Asta described - always a sore loser, but shy and cried a lot. The person in front of her seemed like he never cried his entire life.

However, at that moment, she could feel that he was angry at her siblings, as much as Asta and the rest of the Black Bulls. He grew up around a warm family, so the notion of one that would harass their youngest member was probably foreign to him until now.

Noelle smiled to herself and thought that maybe, just maybe, this personality could be like Brother Nozel, if he ever cared.

“Well,” she started, looking at him properly in the eyes. “Thank you, then.”

He smirked, but it was without the teasing atmosphere from before. “Don’t tell him I said this. He won’t ever let it die.”

“Your secret is safe with me,” she said. “I can only imagine the headache that was growing up together with him,”

Yuno didn’t say anything, and Noelle hoped he knew that she was actually jealous of them growing up together in that warm environment.

-*-

They arrived without much ceremony, and after apologizing to Mimosa, Noelle gracefully took her spot on Asta’s bed - that was never used and was only there to be his for one night. 

However, they all forgot about their insomnia. The adrenaline of going against the Eye of the Midnight Sun was still there after all, and they couldn’t close their eyes easily.

The next morning, Mimosa was the first to greet them and, judging by their positions, they probably spent a huge chunk of the night talking about magic.

From her spot on their door, she smiled at the view. It was Yuno, leaning on the wall with a book about water magic open on his lap. Asta was using his childhood friend’s shoulder as a (comfortable?) pillow, only to see Noelle doing the same on the other side.

Once everyone was awake and ready to go, the three of them never understood why Mimosa kept smiling at them every time they yawned.


End file.
